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Differential Gene Expression During Smoltification of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.): a First Large-Scale Microarray Study

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Abstract

The life cycle of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) involves a period of 1 to 3 years in freshwater followed by migration to the sea where the salmon undergoes rapid growth. In preparation for the marine environment, while still in freshwater, the salmon undergo a transformation from a freshwater dwelling parr to a saltwater adapted smolt, a process known as smoltification. The Atlantic salmon Transcriptome Analysis of Important Traits of Salmon/Salmon Genome Project (TRAITS/SGP) cDNA microarray was used to investigate how gene expression alters during smoltification. Genes differentially expressed during smoltification were identified by comparing gene expression profiles in smolt brain, gill, and kidney tissue samples with those of parr. Of the three tissues investigated, the number of differentially expressed genes was the greatest in gill. Many of the differentially expressed genes could be assigned to one of four main categories: growth, metabolism, oxygen transport, and osmoregulation. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction successfully confirmed the differential expression of seven of the upregulated genes. The TRAITS/SGP cDNA microarray was used to successfully demonstrate for the first time how gene expression mediates smoltification in the Atlantic salmon. Changes in gene expression observed in this study reflected the physiological and biochemical changes recorded by previous studies describing the parr–smolt transformation. This study significantly increases our knowledge of smoltification and will benefit future studies in this area of research.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by an Exploiting Genomics grant (72/EGA 17676) from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. The authors would like to thank the TRAITS/SGP consortium and ARK-Genomics for providing the cDNA microarrays and the Environment Agency Cynrig fish culture unit for supplying the Atlantic salmon. Thanks are also due to the two anonymous reviewers for their critical comments on our manuscript.

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  1. Paul J. Seear

    Present address: British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

  2. Stephen N. Carmichael

    Present address: Lab901 Limited, Unit 53, IMEX Business Centre, Bilston Glen, Loanhead, Midlothian, EH20 9LZ, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Biomedical Sciences Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3US, UK

    Paul J. Seear & Glen E. Sweeney

  2. ARK-Genomics, Roslin Institute, Roslin, Midlothian, EH25 9PS, UK

    Stephen N. Carmichael & Richard Talbot

  3. Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK

    John B. Taggart & James E. Bron

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  1. Paul J. Seear
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Correspondence to Paul J. Seear.

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Supplementary Table 1

All features significantly (p < 0.01) differentially regulated more than twofold in gill tissue of smolts (DOC 145 kb)

Supplementary Table 2

All features significantly (p < 0.01) differentially regulated more than twofold in brain tissue of smolts (DOC 79 kb)

Supplementary Table 3

All features significantly (p < 0.01) differentially regulated more than twofold in kidney tissue of smolts (DOC 55 kb)

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Seear, P.J., Carmichael, S.N., Talbot, R. et al. Differential Gene Expression During Smoltification of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.): a First Large-Scale Microarray Study. Mar Biotechnol 12, 126–140 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-009-9218-x

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